


Hotshot

by MysticZelda



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Basketball, Boyfriends, Bullying, Flashbacks, Fluff and Angst, Fluffy Ending, Happy Ending, Light Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-24
Updated: 2018-11-24
Packaged: 2019-08-28 09:48:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16721043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MysticZelda/pseuds/MysticZelda
Summary: Josh hates crowds, especially sports crowds. Although, Tyler is on the team, so he agreed to tag along. Since Tyler is there, Josh shouldn't have to worry about anything going wrong.Right?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> credit to snesnotsnas on wattpad. she made the account after I posted this. check her out.

The bleachers filled with the heads of high schoolers. Most were talking, yelling, and just having conversations; but not Josh. He sat there with his head down, not wanting any attention at all. He looked up a couple times, just to see if anything started yet, but people were still piling into the room. He was in the far corner of the gymnasium, on the bottom row. Tyler told him to sit there so they could talk when he wasn't on the court.

Tyler. The only reason he even agreed to come to this horrible event was because Tyler was here, and he made his anxiety go away.

To Josh, that made the grueling headaches worth it.

After several more minutes of waiting, he noticed people with basketball uniforms walk in. He sat up, knowing Tyler would probably be coming out soon. He watched several more team members walk out, even some from the opposing team. /Where the heck is Tyler? He'd tell me if he had to cancel, right? What if this is all a joke? What if-/

"Hey, Josh." He snapped out if his trance and looked to the door on his right side. Tyler was standing there, leaning on the door frame. He was wearing his own uniform, holding a basketball. Josh thought he looked cool.

"Hey, man. You look sick as frick right now." Tyler smiled at the compliment.

"Thanks, you're not looking too bad yourself." Josh looked at his wrinkled Buckeyes shirt and scoffed.

"Yeah, right. This is the only basketball shirt I have. I had to dig it out from the back of my closet. I thought you might appreciate it, since they're your favorite team."

"I do appreciate it, but I was talking about your being in general. You're pretty great." Josh laughed in his mind at how cliché that sounded.

"Yeah... I totally knew that," Josh remarked. "I'm just marvelous."

"You are, you know." Josh expected a sarcastic comment back from Tyler, but it was nice to hear direct kindness come from another person. "By the way, everything's going to be fine. If anyone bothers you, I will personally punch them in the face. Your leg is practically vibrating." Josh tried to stop the shaking, but all he could do was slow it down. He loved Tyler, but his anxiety certainly did not.

Another guy showed up behind Tyler and tapped his shoulder. "Dude, the whistle's about to blow. We gotta get ready."

"Alright, just a second." The other guy disappeared, and Tyler turned to Josh. "I gotta go. See you at halftime." Tyler dropped the ball and held out his hand. Josh stood up and did the handshake they came up with a couple months before.

With that, Tyler disappeared into the back room.

                                                ~•★•~

"And last but not least, number three, Tylerrr Joseph!" Josh clapped loudly when the announcer finally said Tyler's name. He watched as the team did warm-ups, pretty much just passing the ball to each other and shooting.

Josh hadn't noticed the other team coming out. His eyes were fixed on Tyler. He especially didn't notice /who/ was on the other team.

"Number 35, Greg McCray!"

Josh's heart stopped when he heard that name. He knew exactly who that was, and so did Tyler. He saw Tyler glance worriedly at number 35.

Greg bullied them both in middle school. He would always find ways to physically and verbally attack Tyler and Josh, but somehow always got away with it. Greg ended up going to a different high school, but that's what made this so worrying.

He said he'd be back one day. And now that he was, Josh was terrified for Tyler's safety.

Both teams had finished by now, and were gathering in the middle for the ball. Tyler was standing behind the person trying to grab the ball, and Greg was going to try and grab the ball for the other team.

The buzzer sounded, and Greg grabbed the ball and barreled towards Tyler. Knowing what to do, Tyler pivoted to the side and started chasing after Greg to steal the ball, and he did. He sprinted across the court before passing the ball to a teammate and having them shoot, which they scored.

Josh relaxed. Maybe Greg wouldn't try to hurt Tyler. Maybe they'd even win.

...so he thought.

                                                 ~•★•~

It was 1 minute and 30 seconds until halftime, and Josh was waiting in excitement for Tyler to come over to him. He'd been watching Greg closely to see if he'd try anything, but it seemed that he was just playing the game. It was odd.

He watched as Tyler blocked another player and knocked the ball out of someone's hands. Josh thought basketball suited Tyler, although Josh himself knew nothing about it.

Then, he saw it. He saw Greg smirk as he moved towards Tyler from behind. His heart quickened as he watched Greg swing his leg towards Ty's ankle.

Then he saw Tyler collapse and yell in anguish.

The game and all the players stopped and looked at him. Some just stared, while a couple walked over to ask Tyler if he was okay, which he very clearly wasn't. He was sitting up, clutching his ankle. He was clenching his teeth and had his eyes tightly closed. Josh's eyes widened and all reason flew out the window as he stood up and ran over to the groaning Tyler.

"Tyler! Tyler. Tyler, what happened? Do you know? It's okay, we're going to get you help." Tyler opened his eyes and Josh saw the pain in them.

"Josh, I know you're trying to help, but-" He winced. "I just need some ice, I think."

Josh looked at his ankle, which was now red and swelling fast. "Are you sure that's all you need? It doesn't look good."

"I don't know, just.. help me off the court, please."

Josh put Tyler's arm over his shoulder and helped him up. Tyler groaned, but got himself up nonetheless. They slowly walked over to the bench as the game continued without Tyler. Josh got him some ice, and sat with Tyler.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay, Tyler?"

"Yes. This is not the worst I've gotten from Greg, right?" Josh didn't want to remember, but he knew Tyler was right.

"Fine, but you aren't playing any more today. I won't allow it. I can't deal with that again." Tyler laughed.

"You don't need to worry about that. After this game, wanna play Mario Kart at my house?"

Josh agreed, and they talked until the final buzzer.


	2. Loveshot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The game ended, and Tyler went home with Josh to play Mario Kart and basketball. Tyler's ankle was getting better, and it seemed things were winding down. But Greg wasn't out of Tyler's mind just yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will probably be the last chapter of this fic, though my friend had fun writing it

"NooooOOOOO!" Tyler's voice was at a crescendo as Josh won Mario Kart for the 3rd time in a row.

"Man, I just can't seem to lose, can I?"

"I'm going to throw your controller out the window, maybe then I can finally win."

"Not ideal, this is still technically your controller, but who am I to tell you what to do?"

The basketball game ended hours ago, but Tyler still had ice on his ankle from the injury Greg gave him. It stopped throbbing and the swelling went down a lot, but it was still uncomfortable. Tyler's mom insisted on going to the pediatrist in the morning, even though Tyler was sure it'd be fine in the morning.

Tyler came out of his thoughts when Josh said something.

"What?"

"I asked how long we've been playing this."

"Uh.. four hours, I think." Josh's eyes widened when he confirmed Tyler's answer with the clock.

"Wow. Since you haven't even changed out of your uniform yet, do you want to go in your driveway and show me how to shoot a basketball?"

"Josh, it's literally 9 pm. It's dark."

"There are lights by the driveway! Come on, I wanna know more about your weird sports thing!" Tyler, not bothering to correct 'weird sports thing,' sighed and moved to get up. As soon as he put weight on his ankle, he hissed and went down on one knee. Josh turned to look back at him. "Oh, sorry, I almost forgot about that. We don't have to go outside if you don't want to, it's okay."

Tyler, touched that Josh was putting him over his own wishes, slowly got back up. "No, I want to show you how to play at least a little bit. Just help me out to the hoop."

Josh hesitantly went over and put Tyler's arm over his shoulder again. They opened the door, where they almost bumped into Tyler's mom.

"Hello, boys! What are you guys doing?" Josh, who was always the better of the two at talking to Tyler's mom, spoke up.

"Hi, Mrs. Joseph. Tyler and I were going to go out into the driveway so he can show me how to play some basketball. I mean, if that's okay with you."

"Isn't it a little dark outside to be playing basketball?" She turned to Tyler. "Besides, I don't want your leg getting any worse, darlin'."

"Really, it's fine, mom. I won't be running around, I'll just be showing Josh some things."

She sighed. "Alright, but I better not look put the window to see you on your feet."

"You won't, mom." The two boys continued down the stairs and out the door.

                                               ~•★•~

  
"No, Josh, you have to hold the ball from underneath, at 2 and 8.."

"Why is there even a specific way to hold the ball? As long as I don't drop it, it shouldn't matter!"

"Yes, but I'm showing you how to shoot the ball. There's a certain angle you need."

"That's weird."

"You're the one that asked me to show you, dude." Tyler was sitting on the driveway with a frustrated Josh, trying to give him pointers.

"Fine. Like this?"

"Yes! That's how you hold it when shooting! Now, try getting it into the hoop when you're holding it like that." Josh took the ball across the driveway and did what Tyler said. Tyler would never confess this to Josh, but he thought it was adorable when Josh couldn't figure out basketball. Tyler was typically envious of the fact he couldn't play the drums like Josh, but he always knew he had leverage with basketball.

He tore his attention away from Josh and to his ankle. It started hurting again, most likely since he'd been walking on it to get out of the house.

His mind shifted again to his assailant, Greg. Tyler was honestly surprised he attacked right in the midst of a game. He usually made sure no one was watching when he confronted Tyler, which was one of the reasons he never got caught. Before Tyler could stop himself, a memory replayed in his head. The first thing he heard was Josh's strained voice.

/ _/" **STOP**! Please, stop, you're hurting him! Greg, what did he do to you‽ Tyler, NO!"_

_"Shut up, man. He deserves this. He knows he does. He's a pathetic fucking loser, and he needs to pay! Am I right, Tyler?"_

_Tyler was not able to answer, as he was being kicked over and over against the wall. He felt a jolt of pain everytime a blow was delivered to his stomach. He would no doubt be covered in bruises when this was over._

_He noticed a teacher walking in their direction, far down the hall. He hoped with all his heart Greg would just stop._

_"Damn, I'm going to get noticed," Greg muttered under his breath. Tyler felt him get close to his face. "Listen up, idiot. This isn't over. It will **NEVER** be over. Remember that."_

_With that, he ran the opposite direction, leaving Josh to try and help him._

_"Tyler! No, no, no, no, no... Tyler, I'm so sorry. I should've hit him back. What hurts?"_

_"Everything," Tyler choked out. "Everything.. hurts. Please, help, Josh.."_ //

Tyler returned to reality, only to realize he was in the middle of an anxiety attack and had hot tears running down his face. He was trapped, he couldn't even move his mouth to call Josh.

Luckily, Josh noticed.

"Tyler? Tyler, oh my gosh.. what's wrong? What happened? Can you talk?" Tyler could only shake his head slightly, and he stared at the ground.

He expected Josh to ask more questions, but instead found Josh's arms wrapped around his shaking self. It deterred his anxiety just enough for him to talk a bit.

"I remembered, Josh. It hurt. So much." Josh loosened his grip around Tyler just a little at these words, as he knew exactly what he was talking about.

"I'm sorry, Tyler. I wish I could've stopped him, that's the one regret I have. He can't hurt either of us anymore, okay? If he tries to, I will personally punch him in the face." Tyler smiled when Josh quoted him from earlier that day.

Josh let go of Tyler, and he realized his anxiety was gone and tears were no longer present on his face. He looked up at the dark sky, Josh mimicking this action.

They stayed like that for several minutes, before Josh was the one tackled in a hug.


End file.
